Harbaugh strategy on Speight's injury

Submitted by Wolverrrrrrroudy on
Is it crazy to think perhaps Speight will play against OSU, but Harbaugh wants the Bucks to prepare for O'Korn? We have to get by Indiana first but perhaps it would make sense to allow exaggeration of injury especially if there is a chance he plays at OSU.
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michgoblue

November 16th, 2016 at 5:53 PM ^

While it certainly sounds implausable, this is Harbaugh we are talking about.  I wouldn't put anything past him if it would give the team a competitive advantage. 

Just going down this road, I could see him starting JOK, but having Wilton dress for the Indiana game.  If the defense goes backto doing its thing, and JOK has the offense working, then Speight stays on the sideline.  If JOK struggles, then Speight can come in and try to win the game. 

This would actually be a nice advantage, as it would really give OSU a lot to prepare for.

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michgoblue

November 16th, 2016 at 6:03 PM ^

I know that you were being sarcastic, but that loss may actually pay off in two weeks. 

For the first 6-7 games of the season, we were cruising to relatively easy wins.  Even Wisconsin, while somewhat close, was a game that we were in mostly control of from beginning to end. 

I have noticed that over the past 2-3 weeks, the team looked less sharp in various areas of the game.  While dominant against Maryland - a crap defense - our offense was sluggish against Sparty and Iowa.  Similarly, over the past three games, our defense - while not letting up a ton of points - has been a bit less dominant.  Missed tackles, poor reads, coverage busts, etc.  Again, we have still been REALLY GOOD, but not the world beaters of the first 6-7 games.  Even special teams have come down a bit in terms of our return games and our coverage. 

None of this is to say that we were bad (except the offense against Iowa - that was really bad), but we have just looked less sharp and sloppier. 

This can happen during a long season, and sometimes a wake up call in the form of a bad loss can restore everyone's hunger.  Look at OSU.  They won a few closer-than-expected games, and then lost to PSU.  Since that loss, they have returned to their prior dominance. . They just look sharper, hungrier and better.  If the Iowa win has the same impact on us, then in the long run, it would actually be a positive.

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funkywolve

November 16th, 2016 at 5:58 PM ^

Maybe I'm in the minority but I don't think the offense is going to be that much different with O'Korn.  Maybe there's a handful of new plays (but at least according to some opponents UM has new plays every week) and maybe certain plays are called more than they were with Speight due to O'Korn being more comfortable with those plays, but I just don't we're going to see a 'new' offense with O'Korn.  

 

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shoes

November 16th, 2016 at 6:21 PM ^

thing is overstated, unless the 2 QBs were say Denard Robinson and John Navarre. Do you really think the defense is going to be different based upon Speight or O'Korn? How would it be different?

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markusr2007

November 16th, 2016 at 6:24 PM ^

O'Korn is more mobile than Speight. He's faster as well.  But the delta in skills sets between the two is insignificant.  Both UM QBs have Howitzer arms and are more dangerous throwing than evading and running.

Even at Houston under the gunslinging offense of Doug Meacham (now co-OC at TCU), John O'Korn WAS NOT a legitimate rushing weapon for which opponents had to game plan.  See below.

O'Korn is no Rick Leach, Steve Smith or Drew Henson.

So regardless of who is under center for Michigan, Ohio State needs to cover UM receivers, TE's and take on the offensive line to apply QB pressure and stop the run.Easier said than done, but a 5-4 Iowa managed to do it quite easily at home, so I imagine Luke Fickell is emboldened and confident that Buckeyes can do the same again in Columbus.

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uminks

November 16th, 2016 at 6:38 PM ^

If would have hit a few of those bombs the game would have been over. The big turning point came when the replay official ruled our TD incomplete?  Then the fluke safety and fluke interception to start the 2nd. The defense bailed them out one more time with an INT but offense failed to get first down, plus not a great punt, plus a phantom face mask call. I think our offense is better than what showed up in Iowa. May be the team just had a poor mindset that this was going to be a cake walk game!

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mediocracy2

November 16th, 2016 at 7:59 PM ^

is the fact that OSU's secondary is light years better than Iowa's... I've been watching some previous games from this season and the overall speed of their defense is what stands out to me. O'Korn will have to play the game of his life which is fine, because Wilton would have had to play the game of his life as well.

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BlueCube

November 16th, 2016 at 6:25 PM ^

magic of Kaepernick replacing Smith for the 49er's so he made the offensive line a sieve 4 years to the date of Kaepernick taking over so he'd be able to replace him with O'Korn or maybe Morris or maybe Peters.

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Blue_42

November 16th, 2016 at 7:01 PM ^

Harbaugh's strategy has less to do with the buckeyes and more about the playoff committee. Do you think that if he came out admitted that Speight's injury was serious enough to sideline him the rest of the year that the committee would've only dropped us to #3?  Lose a starting qb and they're not  going to look as favorably upon you.  Remember the 73 season and Dennis Franklin's injury?

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anywaytodelete…

November 16th, 2016 at 7:12 PM ^

Speight played terribly and got hurt.  I recall Brian and Ace talking/speculating that Speight's injury against Colorado may have lingered for a while and held back his progress for a few weeks before he took off.

If he can play Saturday, he needs to play enough to -- hopefully -- get his touch and his confidence back (perhaps touch returns in practice, assuming he's able to practice).

Unless Speight is 100% by Saturday and looking like the QB he was 2 weeks ago, it would be better for Harbaugh to get both Speight and O'Korn a significant number of snaps.  If Speight is affected by injury, takes another hit, or just doesn't have it, O'Korn gets some real experience and the coaches can assess his performance.

If Speight's injury lingers into the OSU game or he reinjures himself, it would be nice for the coaches to know what they have in O'Korn and for him to have some confidence (if it's merited) having played when things matter against Indiana. Which could be 20, 40, or 60 minutes -- after last week's performance, I don't think anyone really knows what team is going to show up on Saturday.

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The Oracle

November 16th, 2016 at 7:27 PM ^

So what happens if O'Korn leads them to wins in the next three, and Speight then becomes healthy enough to start the first playoff game?

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